The Corporation
The 2003 film The Corporation directed by Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott is based off of Joel Bakan‘s book "The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power.” It is a well known fact that corporations have a lot of money but the film presents the problem that corporations are a powerful, concealed threat to the earth. There is no such thing as enough of anything to large businesses; but with boundless profits, products and expansion, the world is at some point going to run out of room and resources.
Corporations were given the capability of acquiring a dominant influence with the addition of the fourteenth amendment. Interestingly enough, with the passing of this amendment which was primarily passed to ensure more rights to black people, over 90% of the cases brought to court over rights were made by corporations. Companies began changing from businesses with the purpose of providing goods and services for the betterment of society to having a mission to appease stockholders. Stakeholders slowly began to experience a wide array of negative effects. When a company fires a bunch of workers the economy struggles. Low pay subjects workers to starvation and working conditions subject them to toxic chemicals and injuries. Dangerous chemicals used in production lead to water, land and air pollution that affect human and animal life on land and sea. Accidents with products lead to deadly, costly disasters like the gulf oil spills. Advertisements begin molding children at a young age into consumers who buy, use and discard products continuously. Corporations have the ability to own and patent almost everything including human genes. There is a total disregard for life and resources in pursuit of profits. The various cases of corporate corruption were interesting and informative. An example of exposing people to danger show was how the hormone prosilac, which was found harmful to humans, was used to get cows to produce more milk so dairy farms could make more money. An example of harming the environment and getting away with it was the oil spill example where a company is ordered to pay for clean up but the amount wasn’t the full amount for a complete clean up. An example of having too much control was how in countries like Bolivia companies own resources like water and are charging people to use it.
The film presented solutions that begin with the corporations and the government. It suggested companies fund environmental services to fix the damages and better educate CEOs on the earthly issues. Another solution was for the government and environmental groups owning resources, rivers and land and regulating the use. There wasn’t much mentioned about how an individual can facilitate a change or any examples of companies that are addressing environmental issues.
There were a lot of examples of corruption in the film but not enough environmental facts. The film seemed most appropriate for an ethics section of a business course for college student or education for corporation workers or potential entrepreneurs. It would have had more of an educational value, especially for sustainability, if more numbers and facts were presented on the numbers involved in the land destruction, waste, chemicals and human illness.
The 2003 film The Corporation directed by Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott is based off of Joel Bakan‘s book "The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power.” It is a well known fact that corporations have a lot of money but the film presents the problem that corporations are a powerful, concealed threat to the earth. There is no such thing as enough of anything to large businesses; but with boundless profits, products and expansion, the world is at some point going to run out of room and resources.
Corporations were given the capability of acquiring a dominant influence with the addition of the fourteenth amendment. Interestingly enough, with the passing of this amendment which was primarily passed to ensure more rights to black people, over 90% of the cases brought to court over rights were made by corporations. Companies began changing from businesses with the purpose of providing goods and services for the betterment of society to having a mission to appease stockholders. Stakeholders slowly began to experience a wide array of negative effects. When a company fires a bunch of workers the economy struggles. Low pay subjects workers to starvation and working conditions subject them to toxic chemicals and injuries. Dangerous chemicals used in production lead to water, land and air pollution that affect human and animal life on land and sea. Accidents with products lead to deadly, costly disasters like the gulf oil spills. Advertisements begin molding children at a young age into consumers who buy, use and discard products continuously. Corporations have the ability to own and patent almost everything including human genes. There is a total disregard for life and resources in pursuit of profits. The various cases of corporate corruption were interesting and informative. An example of exposing people to danger show was how the hormone prosilac, which was found harmful to humans, was used to get cows to produce more milk so dairy farms could make more money. An example of harming the environment and getting away with it was the oil spill example where a company is ordered to pay for clean up but the amount wasn’t the full amount for a complete clean up. An example of having too much control was how in countries like Bolivia companies own resources like water and are charging people to use it.
The film presented solutions that begin with the corporations and the government. It suggested companies fund environmental services to fix the damages and better educate CEOs on the earthly issues. Another solution was for the government and environmental groups owning resources, rivers and land and regulating the use. There wasn’t much mentioned about how an individual can facilitate a change or any examples of companies that are addressing environmental issues.
There were a lot of examples of corruption in the film but not enough environmental facts. The film seemed most appropriate for an ethics section of a business course for college student or education for corporation workers or potential entrepreneurs. It would have had more of an educational value, especially for sustainability, if more numbers and facts were presented on the numbers involved in the land destruction, waste, chemicals and human illness.
This year a company, Ceres, actually created a guideline for companies to follow to become sustainable. http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/03/11/how-to-embed-sustainability-into-company-dna
Some companies such as Masco, a cabinet company, have begun issuing sustainability reports documenting environmental policies and waste reduction. http://www.masco.com/corporate_information/citizenship/global_reporting_initiative/index.html